


They were meant to meet there

by Cilare



Category: The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Genre: Gen, headcanons abound
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-06 22:53:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13421322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cilare/pseuds/Cilare
Summary: "Their fifth meeting is, in a way, their new beginning. Shiro knows where he’s needed and he’s never balked at a chance to help a fellow man, but maybe his pace falters just a little when he crosses the archway leading to a small town’s square. He remembers a russian boy, slave to one of the Fallen, and he remembers the pain on his leg."





	They were meant to meet there

They first meet in an alley, after a battle that’s been more like a bloodshed. Sanya has heard about him, a middle-aged asian man bearing the Sword of Faith. He’s not all that imposing, in truth, but there’s a certain assurance in the way he moves, as if fully knowing where he steps. No blood has smeared his shoes. 

“They didn’t have to die.” He says, his voice sorrowful yet contained. 

“They did.” Sanya answers, Magog translating his words to Japanese. They had to die for them to be found tomorrow, to add to the unrest that taints the city. One of them was a politician, his death will stall a certain law. 

“No, young man, and you know it.”

But Sanya is not a man anymore and the Fallen in his head pushes him to fight. He’ll be rewarded if he kills this enemy, he knows it, and even if the bearer of Fidelacchius talks, even if he tries to reach out, Sanya doesn’t listen. There’s a part of him that mourns the people he killed, but over the months he’s learned to ignore it. He’s not alone anymore and if that’s the price to pay, then so be it. 

In the end Sanya flees. He’s wounded and bleeding, but even then he’s faster than a mortal man, and thus he survives. He’ll avenge his pride, but this is not such day. 

 

They meet again in a small town’s square. They’re alone, they fight once more. Sanya doesn’t get to kill the Knight, but Shiro Yoshimo will have a limp for the rest of his days. 

 

The third time they meet the Knight of Faith keeps his sword sheathed in a wooden cane, but now there’s another Knight by his side. Sanya doubts, and so he misses his chance.

 

The fourth time they meet the streets of Venice are crowded and they don’t even notice they’ve crossed each other’s path. It is the day Sanya will face the truth of his place in the order, it is also the day Shiro will learn that his teacher, the egyptian Knight of Hope, has met his end. 

 

Things have changed when they meet again. Their fifth meeting is, in a way, their new beginning. Shiro knows where he’s needed and he’s never balked at a chance to help a fellow man, but maybe his pace falters just a little when he crosses the archway leading to a small town’s square. He remembers a russian boy, slave to one of the Fallen, and he remembers the pain on his leg. It wasn’t enough to stop him, but his sword will never be as swift as it was. Maybe he’s getting old, he wonders briefly, and then he sees the boy. 

Sanya looks older, but not by much. His face is leaner and his hair is longer, and yet the real change is in his eyes. They’re not cold and unyielding anymore, there’s a new light behind them. But there is also shame when he looks at Shiro’s wounded leg, just for a second, and then he looks away. 

“Come and sit with me.” Shiro asks him, first in Japanese and then in Russian, gesturing towards a bench near the archway. The square is empty save for them. 

The young russian man doesn’t sit. He stops instead before the Knight of Faith and bows his head. 

“Please be my mentor.” He asks him.

It is then that Shiro Yoshimo sees Esperacchius on the young man’s hip, and he understands why they were meant to meet there, he who has already trained another knight and the youth who now bears the sword of his late mentor. Shiro is old, but not old enough that he can’t pass on his knowledge. And thus he nods. 

“What is your name, boy?” 

“Sanya.” 

 

Shiro teaches, and thus learns. Sanya is not Michael Carpenter, not is he Shiro’s mentor. The young Knight of Hope is distrustful and battle-hungry, but he knows his rage and rarely loses his temper. He’s quiet, even when his Japanese is quite good, but he knows how to listen. 

On a certain sunny day, after a lengthy battle, Shiro asks him why he fights.

“Because somebody has to. Because it is needed.” Is his answer. He doesn’t talk about redemption or atonement, or about good and evil. He says nothing about forgiveness or peace either, nor about Heaven or Hell. Hope is needed and he will be there to bring it. It is his purpose and his peace.

Shiro is old and getting older. He’s given his life to his cause, he’s never married or had children. He usually addresses his pupil as ‘boy’ or by his name, but today he smiles and nods. 

“It is a good reason, son.” He tells him, and he means it.

**Author's Note:**

> Note: I am aware that in Small Favor Sanya says that it was Shiro who found him in Venice and took him to Malta, where he got Esperacchius. This goes AU and Sanya got his Sword before meeting Shiro again.


End file.
